Brooklyn Brewery hires AGW Group for beer launch communications

NEW YORK: Brooklyn Brewery didn’t have to look far for an agency to handle an upcoming beer launch, settling on Brooklyn-based AGW Group for the project.

AGW will handle communications for the year-long rollout campaign, which is scheduled to start near the end of 2019, according to Samantha Itzkovitz, the company’s brand marketing director. The brewer did not disclose other specifics about the new beer.

Itzkovitz said she first spoke with AGW about the project at the end of June, and it started work on August 1. The brewery chose AGW after speaking to a few agencies during an informal search, she said.

"I’ve known [AGW cofounder and COO] Katie Witkin for years, and I’ve admired the work she’s done and how she built the company, and I wanted to make sure I spoke to her," said Itzkovitz. "From that conversation, I knew they were probably going to be the right partner to work with."

Itzkovitz said AGW is not the brewery’s agency of record, but it could continue to work for the company after the rollout is complete.

"I don’t subscribe to AOR model because our needs always change," she said. "I find every agency has different strengths and are the right fit for different types of projects. Also, we’re a global company. We have a team here in the U.S. and teams all over the world. We don’t have one agency of record for Brooklyn Brewery. We work with tons of little agencies."

AGW will handle communications, while other marketing efforts will be managed in-house, said Itzkovitz. Sarah Usher, director of communications at AGW, will lead a core three-person team on the account but will draw on others including Witkin and AGW cofounder and CEO Adam Gorode.

"We use a multichannel approach across the board for Brooklyn and felt the comms and messaging piece was crucial for this [project]," Itzkovitz said. "AGW will be leading our whole messaging and comms strategy. They’re going to be handling the trade, consumer and industry beer, food and drink specialty media and also helping us tell our story to new and relevant audiences, hopefully breaking out of the more traditional avenues and channels and thinking about innovative ways to pitch our story."